Shmily
by Jean V
Summary: To her, it was more than just a word. One-sided Yuffietine. One-shot.


**.title. **Shmily  
**.characters. **Yuffie/Vincent  
**.disclaimer.** _Final Fantasy VII_ belongs to Square Enix. No sueing please.  
**.notes. **Okay, so first fanfic, first Yuffietine. Please be kind, thanks. Also, if you feel familiar about the title, that's because it is from a chapter of a book I read before. I'm not sure if I could grasp his character, so Vincent may not be so Vincenty.

Enjoy and review, if you have time.

* * *

_Shmily._

Vincent Valentine frowned ever so slightly as he looked at the strange word written on the foggy surface of his bathroom mirror. He had just finished showering and the word had mysteriously appeared.

It wasn't the first time; lately Vincent found this word appearing in every crook and nanny of the mansion, like a coded message. But every time he tried to figure it out, nothing came to mind. Wherever the gunslinger turned, he could almost always see this word: on the walls, on the corner of his favorite sheet music, on his mail, on the formation of the flowers he grew, just to list some examples.

Heck, if he squinted carefully, he'd probably see the word forming in the clouds!

Absently shaking his head for providing such a ludicrous idea, Vincent turned away from the mirror and tore off a square of tissue paper to rub out the word. In his absentmindedness, he managed to tear off the rest of the tissue paper along.

Vincent stared.

There, on the last square of the tissue paper, was the word _Shmily_, written in a neat, curvy script.

Was it a ghost, or a monster, which was behind all these writings?

_No,_ the Galian Beast disagreed, rumbling disapprovingly. _Monsters and ghosts do not write words like _Shmily_._

Vincent's eyes narrowed fractionally. The Galian Beast sounded as if he knew what _Shmily_ meant. The monster grinned knowingly within his mind. _If you only knew, host. _

The gunslinger, ignoring the mental remark, traced his memories back to the first time he saw the word. His eyes nearly widened in disbelief when he finally recalled.

It all started after a certain ninja with a bad case of kleptomania began staying with him at the ShinRa Mansion.

When he finally located her, the ninja was lounging on the worn leather sofa, lazily flicking through the channels. "Hi Vinnie," she chirped casually, her eyes never leaving the television screen. "Need help with something?"

Vincent thrust the square of tissue paper with the word into her face.

She blinked uncomprehendingly. "What's the matter, Vinnie? No more tissue paper left? Didn't we just buy ten rolls last week? Well, you can always use your hand, ya know. Not the one with the claw, of course. But then again, maybe you're not comfortable with the other –"

"…_Shmily_, Yuffie?" Vincent cut in, effectively stopping her soon-to-be rant.

Yuffie snapped her jaw shut and stayed quiet for a while, slightly unsettling the dark-haired man.

"Ya think it's just a prank, doncha?" The gunslinger knew Yuffie was angry. She only reverted back to slang whenever she was mad. "Ya think I'm jokin' here, ain't ya?" The ninja's grey eyes flashed with fury. _You brought it onto yourself, host,_ The Galian Beast rumbled sadistically. _Don't you know what _Shmily _means?_

Vincent scowled briefly. He wouldn't be here, asking Yuffie and facing her wrath, if he knew. _It's just a word, isn't it? _He turned back to the fuming ninja, hesitating. "Yuffie," he murmured quietly. "What does _Shmily _mean?"

Yuffie's anger instantly dissipated. "Huh? Ya mean, you don't know?" Her mouth hung open in surprise.

Vincent just looked at her blankly.

"Oh, heh, then I guess…" Yuffie grinned and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Well, sorry for losin' my temper at you like that, Vinnie. I thought you'd know. Guess you're still an old fart afta all." She stood up, stretching like a cat. "Time to feed those chocobos, Vinnie. Don't wanna get them starved and get trapped in this creepy mansion foreva, ya know." She said flippantly, skipping a few steps. "You make dinner, alright amigo?"

Vincent caught her wrist with his human hand. The touch of his hand on her skin seemed to make Yuffie stiffen. Releasing her hand immediately, the gunslinger paused. "_Shmily_…what does it mean?"

She made no attempt to speak. He had to tilt his head to see her face, which was partially covered by her bangs. Then, slowly, her face suspiciously bright, the ninja mumbled something so quick and quiet that the gunslinger, even with his mako-enhanced hearing, was unable to catch it.

"…" His brow wrinkled as he tried to make out her words.

"I said, the chocobos are callin' for me, Vinnie." Yuffie murmured, her voice uncharacteristically soft. Before Vincent could stop her again, the ninja was already out of the door, faintly whistling off-tune. He stared fixated at the spot she stood on.

The Galian Beast chuckled darkly. _Haven't you realized it yet, host?_ It merely laughed when Vincent glared at it. _Don't fret; you have all the time in the world. _

It was right, but he still felt chilled by the words.

He turned his gaze to the door and sighed. He was never going to understand Yuffie and her ways, even given a lifetime.

* * *

After that day, the word ceased to appear in the house, though sometimes if Vincent looked close enough, he might occasionally find the word forming in the cereal he ate; or in the way the birds seemed to move in.

Though the latter was most probably a trick of the light.

The Galian Beast would taunt him every time something like this happened. _Still can't figure it out yet, host? _And he would ignore the monster every single time.

It wasn't until that day Yuffie left that Vincent finally understood what _Shmily _actually meant.

* * *

It was February 14, the day of his namesake.

That day before, February 13, Yuffie had suddenly brought up a touchy topic, and Vincent had snapped at her, the Galian Beast not even participating.

"_Don't meddle in my business, Kisaragi."_

"_Oh, back to formal names now, are we, Valentine?" She spat back at him, sneeringly. "I don't even know what that woman saw in you!"_

_He could say nothing at that. Yuffie must have realized what she had said, for she gasped in horror. "I – Vincent – I didn't mean that…"_

"_Leave then." That was all he said before he turned around and walked out of the house, leaving the mortified ninja alone. _

Vincent knew his words had hurt her more deeply than she would ever admit. So planning to ask her out for dinner, he had gone to knock on her door. When nobody answered, Vincent, starting to get worried, opened the door. He found himself looking at a strangely empty and gloomy room, despite the enormous amount of furniture inside. _Shmily _was scribbled all over the walls, covering every inch of the surface.

Yuffie must have cackled when she did that.

Still, she was gone, taking everything with her. Vincent involuntarily flicked his eyes to Cerberus. All his materia was there, safe in their slots. Except… he did a double take. His Fire materia had been replaced by a mastered Summon materia. The Fire materia was lying beside it, replacing his unmastered Lightning materia.

Vincent raised his eyebrow.

Had he mistaken a Summon for a Fire? But that was impossible. He always recognized his Fire materia. It was special, for it was red in color. He had acquired it somewhere in his travels several years ago.

Was this Yuffie's work then? If so, how did she take it out from Cerberus? And, where was she?

_Look at the table, host,_ Galian Beast growled, interrupting the gunslinger's thoughts. Heeding its words, Vincent turned his gaze toward the middle-sized red oak table. A frame sat on the centre.

He strode over and picked it up with his claw. It was a picture of him and Yuffie, taken one year ago, at Gold Saucer, his least favorite place in the world. Vincent let a tiny fond smile dance across his lips; he remembered that photo. Yuffie had to threaten to sell the Quicksilver to get him for the photo shoot.

The metal of his claw shimmered golden in the light of the dusk. There was also a note attached, but his gaze was only attracted to the six words written on the lower rim of the photo frame, in Yuffie's neat, curvy script.

_See how much I love you. _

**.fin.**


End file.
